Guru’s Guide to Choosing Web Conference Software
It’s always a challenge deciding where to invest our business dollars. We know we have to spend money to grow our business, but we can’t afford to waste a cent. Web conference software can grow your business, if you understand how to select it.
Often, owners are afraid the service will cost too much. Worse yet, they might get locked into a fee for something that doesn’t do what they need. Does this sound like your fears? If so, this article will help.
Web conferencing software is much less expensive than you think. Webex’s MeetMeNow prices out to as low as $35 a month for an unlimited number of meetings. The other companies (Cisco, Microsoft) have similar plans.
Of course, you still have to decide whether that price makes sense for your company. Pencil out how much you would save on travel, long distance phone calls, and cellular phone minutes. It’s not at all unusual for this to work out to much larger savings than the cost of an entry-level internet conferencing plan.
The next step is to decide which internet conferencing features you need. If you’re an hold hand at web conferencing you already know what you want. If not, the best advice is to read this list of features and then sign up for a free trial — take the software for a spin.
Audio Conferencing: Your vendor will provide a toll free number for meetings. They’ll often offer VoIP calling (calling over the Internet) as an additional option.
Video Conferencing: I don’t use webcams myself, but a few of my business friends do. If you have a webcam on your PC and are comfortable using it, you’ll want a vendor that allows for video streaming.
White Board: Virtual whiteboards are a great tool. A shared, online white board is a must for me. The group works together to draw out a new concept, just as if they were in the same room.
Annotating Documents: Reading and edit documents together. Mark up that Proposal as you go, with everyone seeing the same results.
Number and Size of Meetings: I prefer a plan that allows unlimited meetings. Some of the entry-level programs will limit the number of participants per meeting, but how often do we need more than 10 people on a call anyway?
Now you have an idea of the features and plans available for internet web conferencing. The best way to decide what features will benefit your business is to sign up for a free trial. Give the software a spin and see your productivity grow.
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